Hanging a political move: judge who sentenced Guru

The decision to hang Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru was a "political one" and came "too late", said Justice SN Dhinga, who sentenced Guru to death in 2002.

"It's obvious that it is a political decision. What prompted it now, I have no clue," Justice Dhingra, who retired as a judge of the Delhi high court on March 2, 2011, told HT.

Dhingra was appointed as a special judge to try the high-profile case and decided the matter within one year.

He had convicted Guru on the basis of strong evidence "which merits death sentence". The Delhi high court and the Supreme Court upheld his order.

He had also awarded death penalty to co-accused Shaukat Guru and SAR Geelani and five-year rigorous imprisonment to Afshan Guru, wife of Shaukat.

Geelani and Afshan were acquitted by the Delhi high court while Shaukat's death penalty was commuted to 10-year rigorous imprisonment by the apex court.

"This is the best instance to expose the executive (government) which always slams the judiciary for delay and pendency.

"The judiciary took just three years to decide the matter while the executive took eight years to implement the same," the former judge added.

"The proceedings in the trial court, high court and the Supreme Court just took a total of three years to conclude. The executive took eight years to decide on his hanging despite the SupremeCourt order in 2005," Dhingra pointed out.

"This was the biggest attack on India in recent times. They chose to strike at the heart of the country. They attacked the sovereignty of the nation. There was proof that the neighbouring country. In the face of these facts, the delay on the part of executive is inexplicable," Dhingra said.